ATLANTA (AP) — Bread was flying off the shelves, salt was being loaded into trucks and utility workers were nervously watching forecasts Thursday as a huge winter storm that could bring catastrophic damage, widespread power outages and bitterly cold weather was barreling toward the eastern two-thirds of the U.S.
The massive storm system is expected to bring a crippling ice storm from Texas through parts of the South, potentially around a foot (30 centimeters) of snow from Oklahoma through Washington, D.C.; New York and Boston and then a final punch of bitterly cold air that could drop wind chills to mius-50 degrees Fahrenheit (minus-46 Celsius) in parts of Minnesota and North Dakota.
Forecasters are warning the damage, especially in areas that get a large amount of ice, could rival a hurricane. About 140 million people were under winter storm or cold weather watches or warnings — and in many places both.
When will it start?
The storm was expected to begin Friday in New Mexico and Texas and then the worst of the weather will move east into the Deep South before heading up the coast and thumping New England with snow.
Cold air streaming down from Canada caused Chicago Public Schools and Des Moines Public Schools in Iowa to cancel classes Friday. Wind chills predicted to be as low as minus-35 degrees Fahrenheit (minus-37 Celsius) could cause frostbite within 10 minutes making it too dangerous to walk to school or wait for the bus.
The cold punch coming after means it will take a while to thaw out, an especially dangerous prospect in places where ice and snow weighs down tree branches and powerlines and cuts electricity, perhaps for days. Roads and sidewalks could remain icy well into next week.
Freezing temperatures are expected all the way to Florida and lows in the North and Midwest will get about as cold as possible, even down to minus 25 or 30 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 32 to minus 34 degrees Celsius), forecasters said.
A severe cold snap five years ago took down much of the power grid in Texas, leaving millions without power for days and resulting in hundreds of deaths. Gov. Greg Abbott said Thursday that won’t happen again.
The power system “has never been stronger, never been more prepared and is fully capable of handling this winter storm,” he said. “There is no expectation whatsoever that there is going to be any loss of power from the power grid.”
The difficulty of predicting winter storms
Winter storms can be notoriously tricky to forecast — one or two degrees can mean the difference between a catastrophe or a cold rain — and forecasters said the places with the worst weather can’t be pinned down until the event starts.
Georgia Gov Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency in his state like many other governors while acknowledging Thursday morning some forecasts have disastrous levels of wintery weather in Atlanta while others have the Deep South’s largest city mostly spared.
As a precaution, North Carolina’s largest public school system was preparing for potentially several days out of physical classrooms next week. The Wake County school system, with 161,000 students in and around Raleigh, told its nearly 11,000 teachers to create three days of assignments accessible online or through paper copies.
All 275 of ice-melting salt sold out at Bates Ace Hardware in Atlanta in one morning, manager Lewis Pane said. He has made special trips to the warehouse to restock but it’s selling out everywhere.
Wendy Chambers stopped by the store to pick up batteries and flashlights in case there is a power outage.
“We’re gonna be prepared, aren’t we? We’re going to be able to read, do things, play games,” she said before heading to church choir with her granddaughter.
Brine trucks were already treating roads from Oklahoma to Tennessee with more states expected to begin treating roads as the start of the storm gets closer.
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger told her residents to prepare for days without power or the ability to get out of their neighborhoods. And in a nod to the politics of the time, the newly inaugurated Democrat said people should not be scared to call 911 in an emergency just because of the immigration crackdowns going on in places like Minnesota.
“If someone needs to call police, having a health emergency needs to call first responders, please do so and ensure the safety of your friends, neighbors and family. And, stay warm,” Spanberger said.
College sports teams moved up or postponed games, and the Texas Rangers canceled their annual Fan Fest event.
The city of Carmel, Indiana, canceled its Winter Games out of fear residents could get frostbite and hypothermia competing in ice trike relay and “human curling” in which people slide down a skating rink on inner tubes.
But the Nashville Symphony said Thursday its weekend performances of “Frozen” were still going on as expected. And in Charleston, West Virginia, organizers said the annual West Virginia Hunting and Fishing Show will go on after more than 150 exhibitors signed up for the sold-out event that is expected to draw about 12,000 people Friday through Sunday.
The forecast calls for rain, freezing rain and snow, but with outfitters coming from all over the U.S. as well as Canada and South Africa, the show must go on, said Glen Jarrell, a spokesperson for the West Virginia Trophy Hunters Association, the event’s promoter.
“We’re not thinking about stopping. We don’t care if it’s rain, snow or high water,” Jarrell said.
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